CDC Set to Announce New Metrics for Covid-19 Restrictions As Early As Tomorrow

The CDC is set to announce new metrics to guide Covid-19 restrictions such as mask-wearing as early as tomorrow. The CDC currently says that people who live in counties with substantial or high levels of Covid-19 transmission should wear masks indoors. The agency will not change that guideline but will instead made changes to the way it assesses ‘community levels of disease’ by shifting from looking at cases alone to looking at ‘meaningful consequences’ of the virus such as hospitalizations, emergency room visits and deaths. In the current map 97% of counties are at substantial or high transmission and using the new metrics, fewer counties will be in the highest levels of transmission. Guidance about masking and social distancing will be based of the levels of disease in the individual county.